The article by Danah Boyd, “Identity Production in a
Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace” was written in 2006, when MySpace
was more popular. The article starts off by describing what MySpace is. MySpace
started as a site for people over 18, but eventually the age limit was lowered
to 14. Originally it was thought that MySpace wouldn’t become popular because
of previous sites such as Friendster, which had died out. However, it was found
that teenagers loved using MySpace, so it quickly caught on. MySpace provides a
hang out space for teenagers when they can’t hang out in person. Although this
worried adults, MySpace did not replace in person hanging out with teenagers.
Despite what adults may think, teenagers are not using
MySpace to spite parents; rather, they wish to create their own hangout where
they can talk and explore their profiles without the control of their parents. Although
this article was written in 2006 and more people use Facebook than MySpace now,
the premise is the same. Recently, MySpace has been given a makeover in the
hopes of attracting users back to using MySpace. Whether or not this new
MySpace will be able to compete with Facebook remains to be seen.
Friendster died out because it became overrun with a group of 20-somethings. MySpace did not have this problem because teens ran the scene. Teens became obsessed with the site and began to use it constantly. This reminds me of a meme that I once saw. A boy is sitting outside with headphones and a gaming system. The text reads, "Mom told me to play outside." This is the same scenario displayed by the MySpace example. Teens felt safe concealed in their homes or bedrooms away from adults and the ouside world. The site gave teens a chance to connect without having to go out of the house. I too am interested to see how the revamped MySpace will match up against the ever so popular Facebook and all of its hype.
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